Odyssey of the Mind students are ready to tackle challenges

Published 8:00 pm, Monday, April 11, 2005

Could you present an original performance that tells a story three ways - using a primitive method of communication, an evolved method and a futuristic method?

This challenge - sponsored by NASA - was one of five that partipants in the Odyssey of the Mind program nationwide could devote their creative energy to this school year.

It was not the one chosen by the seven-student Huckleberry Hill School team or by the six-student team at Whisconier Middle School. Both competed in state competition March 19 in Hartford and did well but were not chosen to go to the national competition.

Huckleberry elementary students choose to work on the "Laugh-a-thon" challenge, which required them to create a humorous performance. In it they had to portrayed a clown, a mime, and an image and its reflection. They had to include a comedy routine and the effect of something happening much faster than usual.

Whisconier students constructed two original stunt vehicles, which had to run on different power systems, travel over five obstacle courses, cross a finish line and break balloons in competition.

Odyssey of the Mind, an international educational program, strives to not only make learning fun, but to let children teach themselves. It wasfounded in 1978 by Dr. Samuel Micklus, then a technology professor at Rowan University in New Jersey.

Local groups are run by schools or parents, who purchase a membership from Creative Competitions Inc. "Dr. Sam" still develops all the challenges used, along with his son Sam, who is CCI president.

Groups range from kindergarten through college age, and each works on its choice of long-term project.

This year's kindergarten to second-grade challenge was "Fable-Us," in which the children had to create and perform their own original fable with a moral. No humans roles were allowed, only animals and inanimate objects with human characteristics.

There are no right or wrong answers- at competitions, the students are rewarded for knowledge, creative skills and teamwork.

After their long-term projects are judged, the teams are presented top-secret spontaneous challenges and the suspense and excitement can be unnerving. One example would be taking a classic painting by an artist like Picasso or Van Gogh and bringing it to life in a skit.

"I really like Odyssey because we learn different things than what they teach us in school. It's a lot of fun, too," said Beau Pettit, the 10-year-old Huckleberry Hill team captain, who wanted to get involved after seeing his older brother, Toby, join.

Huckleberry coaches Chip and Diane Morrison got involved with Odyssey when their sons - Grant, now 10, and Ben, now 8 -became involved last year.

"I think the program is just great because the kids have to work to come up with solutions to these challenges on their own," Chip Morrison said. "We (parents or coaches) cannot give them answers. We can only provide a bit of guidance."

Mary Edmunds, Brookfield's Odyssey of the Mind coordinator, became involved seven years ago when her son, Stephen, joined the team at Huckleberry school.

"It's such a wonderful program and Brookfield has always done very well. We have made it to the World Championships almost every year throughout the last 20 years."

The program, used for 24 years in Brookfield, gives kids an unusual opportunity to excel, she said, but it is no longer being fully utilized.

"Participation has really declined over the last couple of years. Just three years ago we had about 12 teams in Brookfield. This year we only had two," Edmunds said.

For 22-year Amy Zinser, whose father, Bob Zinzer, was the coordinator before Edmunds, the Odyssey program was such a good experience that even today, as a law student at the University of Connecticut, she participates as a judge.

"I started when I was 9 years old and continued through my senior year at Brookfield High School," she said. "I made so many good friends and it was such a good way to learn because you have to think outside the box."

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For more information about Brookfield's Odyssey of the Mind program, contact Mary Edmunds at (203) 740-8423. For information on the program itself, visit www.odysseyofthemind.com.